I’ve only recently begun baking cakes with any seriousness and treated myself to some Magic Line pans to do so. A week ago, I was greasing a new 9x2 pan (it had been washed by hand but not used yet) with a stick of butter and when I took the stick away, the greasy wax wrapper had a greyish color in places. I thought maybe it had something to do with the wax paper itself, because the butter was not discolored, so I threw the wrapper out, baked my cake, and carried on.

Today, I greased two new 8x2 pans (again, prewashed by hand but unused) in the same fashion and when I pulled the butter stick away, where I had rubbed it against the pan, there was again the grey residue—this time on the stick itself.

As far as I could tell, the grey residue didn’t come off on my hands and didn’t transfer onto the cakes or the parchment lining the bottoms of the pans. When I washed the pans later, the towels with which I dried the pans did not come away discolored.

I’ve done some basic googling and saw some talk of grey residue coming off of aluminum pans like my Magic Lines being aluminum oxide. I frankly don’t know if that’s what was on my butter/wrapper, and I know there’s some controversy regarding how dangerous it is to consume anything with aluminum, but in whatever instance, I’m wondering:

1) Is what I’ve described a normal or common issue? How, if at all, can I avoid it?
2) Have I inadvertently poisoned myself, my family, and friends by eating cakes baked in these pans? (Or will I if I continue baking with them?)

I seem to be alive right now, so I don’t think the damage inflicted, if any, is instantly lethal, but obviously I’d prefer not to convert my tasty baked goods into time bombs… Or something like that.

I have Parrish Magic Line pans and know exactly what you are talking about. Rewash the pans and dry them very well. If you have microfiber cloths, use them to dry the pan. This is no reflection on the pans. I have Viking cookware and the same thing happened with them and they are not aluminum, they are stainless with an aluminum core.

Once washed very well and you no longer are getting that grey residue on your cloth you should not have the issue again. I have my Parrish Magic Line bakeware almost two years now and have no problem with them at all. Infact, they are fantastic .

and I know there?s some controversy regarding how dangerous it is to consume anything with aluminum,

There really isn’t any controversy in the scientific community. The issue was first raised a few decades ago because they found high levels of aluminum in the brains of Alzheimer’s patients, but frantic study ever since then has showed no link between exposure to aluminum and Alzheimer’s. The aluminum appears to be a symptom, not a cause, of the disease.

Unfortunately, once an accusation is leveled, there is almost nothing that can be done to clear the innocent. While the aluminum oxide is harmless, it is ugly and probably induces off flavors into your products.

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If error is corrected whenever it is recognized as such, the path of error is the path of truth.

and I know there?s some controversy regarding how dangerous it is to consume anything with aluminum,

There really isn’t any controversy in the scientific community. The issue was first raised a few decades ago because they found high levels of aluminum in the brains of Alzheimer’s patients, but frantic study ever since then has showed no link between exposure to aluminum and Alzheimer’s. The aluminum appears to be a symptom, not a cause, of the disease.

Unfortunately, once an accusation is leveled, there is almost nothing that can be done to clear the innocent. While the aluminum oxide is harmless, it is ugly and probably induces off flavors into your products.